By MAJA SMIEJKOWSKA and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan appeared together in a trio of charity visits Thursday, their first joint public appearance since moving back to England, as they seek to rebuild their brand in Britain after walking away from royal duties six years ago.
The couple started their day at the Community Recording Studio, in the city of Nottingham in central England, that uses music, performance and athletic programs to help young people build confidence and develop practical skills. The couple, who have the royal titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, received a warm welcome and cheers, especially from the schoolchildren present.
“We love you, Duchess Meghan, we love you,” one woman shouted.
The couple then went to Himmah Hub, central England’s biggest food bank, and Epic Partners, which offers sports, education and mentoring programs for disadvantaged young people.
Across their three stops, Harry and Meghan, who wore a long burgundy coat, stopped to take selfies, give hugs and shake hands with fans.
The Sussexes remain non-working royals
The visit to Nottingham was particularly significant as it was there they made their first joint appearance after announcing their engagement in 2017.
The day’s events were presented with touches of royal style, including an announcement that features the couple’s Sussex titles and a prearranged media pool chronicling their movements. Archewell, the philanthropic venture that often took center stage when they were living in the U.S., is hardly mentioned.
But King Charles III, Harry’s father, has made clear that the couple remain non-working members of the royal family, a status they accepted when they abandoned royal duties and moved to California.
In a letter sent on behalf of the king to senior government officials shortly after Harry and Meghan returned to the U.K. in September, the palace stressed that the couple would continue to refrain from using their royal forms of address — His Royal Highness or Her Royal Highness — and any charity work would be carried out as private citizens.
The decision to send the letter and, more importantly, to release it to the media demonstrated the concern among some palace officials that Harry and Meghan’s celebrity could allow them to become a sort of parallel royal court, competing with the Prince and Princess of Wales and other working royals for press coverage and public support.
The couple are back to working with familiar partners
Harry has been involved with the Community Recording Studio and Epic Partners for more than a decade, and Meghan worked with Himmah on “Together: Our Community Cookbook,” published in 2018.
While the couple continued to support charities in the U.K. after they left Britain, their focus was elsewhere.
When Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California in July 2020, they said they wanted to earn their own living, later signing lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify.
Relations with the rest of the royal family quickly deteriorated as the couple said palace staff had been insensitive to Meghan’s mental health and leveled charges of racism and media manipulation at other members of the family.
Harry wants his children to get to know their grandfather
But tensions began to ease in recent months as Harry expressed a desire for reconciliation with the king, saying he wanted his children to have a chance to get to know their 77-year-old grandfather. Charles is undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer that was discovered in 2024.
The couple and their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, are reportedly living at a private, nonroyal residence in the Cotswolds, a rural area of rolling hills, villages and farms to the west of Oxford.
While the couple have expressed their happiness about returning to the U.K., the move hasn’t been without controversy.
Harry continues to lobby for publicly funded police protection, which was canceled when he and Meghan gave up royal duties.
The prince says he and his family remain under threat simply because of his royal status. Just days into the new school year, the children have changed schools because of security issues.
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Kirka reported from London. Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.